The peso was the

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

of El Salvador between 1877 and 1919.

History

The

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

replaced the

Salvadoran Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvad ...

and Central American Republic reales, at a rate of 8 reales = 1 peso. Banknotes were issued from 1877. The Salvadoran real continued to be used until 1889. In 1889, El Salvador decimalized, with the peso subdivided into 100 centavos, and began to issue coins. The peso was initially pegged to the

French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...

, at a rate of 1 peso = 5 francs. The peso was replaced in 1919 by the colón, at par.

Coins

The first decimal Salvadoran

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

s were issued in 1889. These were copper-nickel 1 and 3 centavos. On August 28, 1892, the Salvadoran mint was established and production of

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

coins denominated in centavos and pesos began. In addition to copper 1 centavo coins, there were silver 5, 10, 20 and centavos and 1 peso, and gold , 5, 10 and 20 pesos, although the gold coins were only issued in very small numbers (597, 558, 321, and 300 respectively. In 1909, bronze real coins were issued in response to the continued use of the real currency system in parts of the country. Coins for 25 centavos were introduced in 1911. Production of silver coins was suspended in 1914.

Banknotes

The government issued banknotes (engraved and printed by the National Bank Note Company of New York) denominated in pesos in 1877, in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500 pesos. Following this, private banks issued notes until after the peso was replaced by the colón. These included the ''Banco Agricola Comercial'', the ''Banco de Ahuachapam'', the ''Banco de Centro America y Londres'', the ''Banco Industrial del Salvador'', the ''Banco Internacional del Salvador'', the ''Banco Nacional del Salvador'', the ''Banco Occidental'' and the ''Banco Salvadoreño''. Notes were issued in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500 pesos.

References

Footnotes

Notes

Sources

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External links

{{Peso, state = collapsed Modern obsolete currencies Currencies of Central America 1877 establishments in El Salvador 1919 disestablishments History of El Salvador Currencies of El Salvador Banknotes of El Salvador